CONCERNING our association with the rest of Europe, surely we have reached a very low point in our long and glorious history when a British Prime Minister has to visit Berlin and Paris to plead to both a German Chancellor and French President for them to give us enough concessions to enable us to govern ourselves as we would wish?

Had Generals Montgomery and Wellington still been with us they would have considered their great deeds a complete waste of good men, time and effort.

Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby

 

THE horrific scenes on the A27 at Shoreham, Sussex, on Saturday, August 22, killing at least 11 people, surely begs the question that it is high time air show displays should now be history. At least six other planes have crashed giving displays at air shows this past decade, starting with Brian Brown, aged 49, who crashed his Hurricane at the very same show at Shoreham in September 2007.

The crashed Hawker Hunter was built in Kingston-upon-Thames in 1955, some 60 years ago, and was not equipped to be performing loops just for people’s enjoyment.

The only performances now should be steady fly-pasts by modern machines on historic or Royal occasions and sadly even the wonderfully drilled, well prepared Red Arrows had a pilot killed in November 2011 in his Hawk T1.

Bryan R Lawson, Burton Fields Road, Stamford Bridge, York

 

AS the saga of the community stadium rumbles on it now appears that York Knights could have played this season at their old ground.

What seems to be the incompetence of YCC and their negotiating team, also the unwillingness of YCFC to accommodate the Knights at Bootham Crescent, brings to mind the old adage “their inability to organise a booze-up” at a well known Yorkshire brewery.

J Henderson, Woodland Place, New Earswick, York

 

I think standing room as mentioned in the Press is the smallest of York problems (No terracing confirmed as Community Stadium plans push on, August 27). The major priority is to knock down the old Ryedale stadium and clear debts.

It would be also nice to see in the new development the use of all seats from both old stadiums and other building materials where possible.

Timothy Wynn Dodgson Terrace Acomb York

 

Mike Kitching, (Letters, August 31), deplores (and rightly so) the way that England Cricket Captain Alastair Cooke is referred to, by his subordinates, as ‘Cookie’ and Yorkshire Captain Andrew Gale is called ‘Galey’ by his Yorkshire team-mates.

This ‘matey’ addressing of superiors by subordinates is yet one more indication of how standards are dropping in this country.

The discipline which is the bed-rock of good manners has been removed from parents and schools and is another indicator of the way ‘standards’ in society, are in virtual free-fall.

Another example is the way that street-performer ‘Purpleman’ has had to hire bodyguards to protect him from the day-time drunkards who verbally assault him (The Press, August 31).

At one time, in those long-gone ‘gentler’ days, a day-time drunk would have been arrested by the ever-present police, bundled into a cell, allowed to sleep it off and, the following day, been fined ‘ten bob’ (50p) and sent on his way.

Again, referring to that ‘gentler age’, is the badly thought-out ‘all-day-opening’ of pubs brought in by then PM Tony Blair.

The British and their drinking habits are poles apart from the Cafe culture Blair thought he could bring to Britain.

Britons drink, in the main, for one reason only - to get wrecked.

Along with lack of discipline the ‘open-all-hours’ of pubs and clubs have done Britain no favours at all.

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge, York

 

The question of the price of milk these days got me thinking. In years past we had the milkman calling every morning to leave your milk on the doorstep. The milkman became a real friend for those living on their own, a life line or a warden making sure that the occupant within got that regular welfare, a visit. On some milk rounds eggs and other items could be purchased during his morning visit.

Only in a small community there could be still such a person still offering that service. It was indeed a personal service . Can any one remember the milk tokens we got?

Keith Chapman, Custance Walk, York